


the star

by thefluffqueen



Category: Glee
Genre: Book-inspired, Completely AU, Crossover from FF.net, Finn is her screenwriter husband, Gen, Jesse is a TV magnate, Quinn is her PA, Rachel's an actress, Shelby is her momager (imagine Kris Jenner only way worse), There's no New Directions here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:22:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefluffqueen/pseuds/thefluffqueen
Summary: TV magnate Jesse St. James only plays to win. Like a King Midas of entertainment, everything he attaches his name to becomes an instant hit. And when Rachel Berry, the star of his latest project, is dragged into a potential scandal, he will do whatever it takes to protect her.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The book that inspired this story, The Master Player, belongs to Emma Darcy, Harlequin Books (which owned the Brazilian Portuguese translation that I read) and Mills & Boon Books. ‘Glee’ and its characters belong to FOX and Ryan Murphy.  
> Cross-posted from FF.net.

**the star**

**one**

His eyes followed her. The release party of his TV station’s new show was filled to the brim with all kinds of celebrities; the women amongst the guests were, physically speaking, far more beautiful than the one who had caught his attention, but, in Jesse St. James’ mind, she outshone everyone else. There was an air of adorable simplicity in her that attracted both men and women towards her; she looked like someone who would never betray anyone.

In Jesse’s eyes, she was the ultimate girl-next-door that everyone loved and trusted, but who held a quiet, subtle sex appeal that made all men want to take her to bed.

There was no severity, no intimidation in her physical appearance. Her shiny, silky brown hair cascaded down her back, always looking slightly disheveled, always with a lock out of place. A delicate dimple appeared on her cheek every time she smiled. She had soft facial features, except for her typically Jewish nose, but even then she made it work for her. And her body was just like a woman’s body should be: she wasn’t bony, stick-thin. Each and every part of her build was sweetly curvaceous and soft, not exaggeratedly voluptuous, thus unthreatening to other women – but deeply inviting to any man.

However, it was her eyes that held the real secret to her appeal. The luminous chocolate brown pools somehow stated that, in her soul, she was willing to listen and relate to anything someone wanted to tell her. There was no reservation in her eyes. They sucked one in, showed every emotion she held, reflected an almost hypnotizing vulnerability that fired a man’s both protective instincts and most primitive ones.

She had a large, generous mouth that was almost as expressive as her eyes. Her lips’ smooth mobility always displayed some emotion, from a small smile of solidarity to a radiant grin of shared joy. She had an innate ability to portray anything anyone wanted from her, and people believed she felt that emotion as a real person, not as an actress portraying a character. It was a gift that would make her a huge star, not only in the TV show whose pitch he had bought for his station, and then demanded to be rewritten so the leading lady could reflect what he had seen in her.

Strangely, however, Jesse wasn’t sure if a TV star was what she wanted to be. Her domineering mother, however, wanted her to. Her ambitious screenwriter husband too. And she did what **they** wanted, never making any objections. But there were moments when Jesse caught a lost look on her face, flashes when she thought no one was look and she didn’t need to be anyone’s puppet, when she wasn’t under the spotlight.

That evening, however, she was under the spotlights. Guests surrounded her, wanting to bask under and share a second of her light, inevitably fascinated by her unique charisma. The crowd around her shifted, in constant movement, people forced to give way to others who also wanted a part of her, if only for a few moments. But Jesse noticed that often she looked around, searching for those who were always near her but not at the moment.

That, he had to admit, was a surprise. Neither her mother nor her husband liked to be on the background, where they would inevitably end if they stayed away from her in public. Jesse looked away from her and looked around, to find the people she was looking for.

Unsurprisingly, her mother was a little away from her, talking to a group of TV executives – certainly widening the network of contacts she could use for future gain. For Jesse, it had been unpleasant to talk business with her, but inevitable since she had named herself her daughter’s manager. He had kept all his meetings with the woman as curt as possibly, coldly thwarting all her attempts at building a close personal liaison with him.

Controlling and egocentric, Shelby Corcoran was the worst kind of stage mother. Her constantly dyed black hair screamed her need to be paid attention to and remembered; its masculine short length accentuated her ‘I’m-as-good-as-any-man-and-better-than-most’ mindset. Her body, however, had nothing masculine: Shelby was always dressed with a heavy sexuality, always wearing low-cut shirts, short skirts and sky high heels that displayed her toned legs.

Her sexuality and her sharp business instincts were weapons she used to have things go her way, and Jesse could honestly say there was nothing in her that he liked. Even the name she had picked for her daughter – Rachel – sounded a deliberate attempt to try and manipulate her child’s then-future career. Rachel Berry was a name that was easy to remember, but, in Jesse’s mind, the way she constantly said it – both given and last names always said together – always sounded fake. It was so different from the person he saw Rachel as. A simpler name would have fitted her best.

Maria.

Maria St. James.

His lips contorted in slight amusement at the presumptuous addition of his own last name to the name he had given her. Marriage had never held any attraction to him. He didn’t want a wife. His sexual urges could be satisfied with any woman, and the governess and the cook he had at home managed his domestic life better than a wife could. Besides, Rachel Berry already had a husband, and Jesse was deeply against stealing a man’s wife, even if it was for a brief affair. A troubled personal life was as bad as a troubled professional life.

Jesse tightly controlled both of his.

He wondered if her husband was enjoying the party, and his eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Finn Hudson, the womanizer Rachel had tied her life to. **His** wasn’t a good name. The man had an all-American charm that people easily believed, but Jesse saw no talent at all in his writing skills. None of the lines he had created carried emotional strength. They invariably had to be edited out or improved by the other writers of the show’s team. Finn Hudson would have never been part of said team, if his inclusion to it hadn’t been part of the negotiations with Rachel.

_Interesting_ , Jesse thought when he found the man. Finn wasn’t seeking for anyone’s attention. He stood far away from the crowd, almost turning his back to them, deeply involved in a conversation that looked very tense with Quinn Fabray, Rachel’s personal assistant. His face held fury and frustration. Hers was full of fury and determination. She tried to walk away from him, and Finn held her back by her arm, his fingers pressing firmly on her flesh. But she shook him off, stepping away from him. Resentment flared on her face as she made her way through the masses, going straight towards Rachel.

Jesse’s intuition immediately warned him of the potential mess. There were TV and print reporters among the guests. He was violently against the idea that any press, no matter how bad, was good press. Anything that could drag the press’ attention from the show wasn’t well-received – especially anything that could damage its leading lady’s reputation.

He moved, finding his own way to Rachel, but he was on the other side of the room from her; it would be impossible to stop Quinn on time. She reached Rachel first, pushing people away and taking a confrontational position; her body language clearly displayed her fierce determination. Her hands closed on Rachel’s shoulders as she leaned forward and whispered something in her ear, her face full of venom.

Rachel went pale, and Jesse cursed inwardly.

The shock in her face and her deeply shaken expression indicated to Jesse that Quinn had dropped a bomb on his leading lady. Fortunately, he reached the two women only seconds after Quinn shared her news. It was perfectly timing, for his tall, strong frame blocked Rachel from the eyes of the nearest guests.

“Go away, Fabray,” he demanded coldly, startling the young blonde, who let Rachel go and turned to face him. He, however, moved quickly, completely ignoring her and wrapping an arm around Rachel’s waist. He carefully led her away from the party, with his face down towards her, his expression closed off as if he had something serious to discuss with her. He held his free arm out in a dismissive gesture that would keep the other guests from interrupting their conversation.

“Do **not** make a fuss,” he instructed in a whisper, his voice grave and urgent. “Just come with me. I’ll take you to a safe place where we will be able to work this issue out, just you and me.”

Rachel didn’t reply. She just looked blankly ahead, walking like an automaton, being led only by the pressure of his arm around her waist. It was as if she had suddenly become an empty shell, with nothing inside to hold her up. Jesse deduced that, whatever it was that Quinn had told her, it had to be quite bombastic news to reduce Rachel to what she was now.

His immediate goal, however, was to protect the investment he had made that she was a part of, and so he did, in the same impetuous way with which he went after all of his goals. He didn’t give a fuck to what her mother-manager and her husband would think of such action. They didn’t matter.

With this in mind, Jesse led Rachel straight out of the Adrenaline Room, the main ball room of the five-star hotel where the party was being held, ignoring the calls for attention and diverting any attempt at conversation with a scathing glare. It was successful, because no one would dare to cross California’s most powerful TV magnate. He had too much power to be trifled with, and everyone knew Jesse had no scruples against using such power if necessary.

Thankfully, he had previously booked the penthouse suite for his use. Because he wanted to enjoy his moments with Rachel at the party by himself after it ended, he hadn’t invited his current lover as his guest for the evening; thus, there were no risks of Andrea throwing a fit and making an unpleasant scene if she walked in him alone with Rachel. So, he led the shaken brunette to the room, for it was a quick and efficient escape route for her.

Jesse didn’t take the time to ask Rachel if she agreed with his decision. She wouldn’t listen to a word he said anyway. She still seemed too out of it to pay attention to anything. Rachel didn’t breathe a word or a sound of protest when he took her to the elevator, staying mute even as he pressed the button to the top floor, took her to the suite, locked the door behind them and carefully made her sit in a comfortable couch.

Rachel didn’t crumble against the soft cushions; her spine was stiff, ramrod straight as she looked inexpressively ahead. Jesse doubted she was even aware of her current location. Taking a deep, quiet breath, he went to the liquor cabinet nearby and put a generous dose of cognac in a clean crystal glass. For himself, he served a small dose of whisky in a tumbler, trying not to look threatening in her eyes, but friendly and sympathetic once the drink brought her back to her reality.

Jesse was aware that Rachel didn’t feel at ease with him and never had felt. His goal had never been to make friends, and his personality was too demanding and closed-off for her to promptly empathize and like. But, at that moment, he was the one in charge, and so he wanted her to accept the situation, to trust him, to share her problems with him and to allow him to work it out, for it was obvious she was unable to deal with it on her own and he needed his star to keep acting the way only she could. Jesse St. James, everyone knew, wasn’t a man who accepted defeat and failure from any of his projects.

. . . .

“Here, drink this.”

A delicate, small glass was firmly put in her hands, which lay lifelessly on her lap. Her numb mind registered only that she had to drink whatever had been given her, otherwise the liquid would spill. She held her glass with both hands so that it wouldn’t shake.

“Go on, drink.”

The gentle incentive made her lift the glass to her lips. She took a sip from the glass, and the liquid burned her mouth, going in a fiery path down her throat. Her neck was taken over by warmth, which flooded her cheeks and shook her brain out of its state of numbness. Her eyes, filled with alarm, immediately and automatically sought the man responsible for giving her alcohol to drink.

Her eyes widened when she found Jesse St. James.

A shiver made its way down her spine when she noticed his blue eyes watching her closely; the power he always exuded caused goosebumps to break over her skin and made her insides clench. She blinked at him, and he smiled slightly.

“That’s better,” he said, satisfaction sparkling inside the blue eyes that shone with intelligence. Not for the first time, she thought nothing went unnoticed by him. She had the opinion that he saw everything, knew everything and cared only about what would benefit him and the world he ruled.

She was relieved when he took the glass from her hand, put it on a glass center table in front of her, then turned his back on her, putting physical distance between the two of them by taking the armchair in front of her seat on the couch, with the glass center table between them. Jesse sat down, settling his taller frame on the seat while his elegant hands held the tumbler from which he took a sip.

Jesse St. James was a man of stunning beauty, although this description was far too delicate for a man like him. He had dark, curly hair, delicate facial features, fair skin and pink, pouty lips that made him look as aristocratic as a royal, an air only enhanced by the aloof way he carried himself. However, it was his blue eyes that caused the most impact: those crystal-clear pools sparkled with untamable power and charisma, making it clear that he was a dynamic man who could find good ideas in anything and make them work somehow.

Those eyes also added to his undeniable sex appeal. When they first met Rachel’s own eyes, it was almost like they caused a mental and physical attack on her femininity. Since then, every time they met she couldn’t shake off the magnetism he exuded, no matter how hard she tried, and it brought to the surface things she shouldn’t feel for him.

So, she was alarmed when she came back to her senses and realized she was alone with him.

Her eyes moved anxiously around the room, realizing she was obviously on a hotel suite. A brief glance to the window told her it was most likely the penthouse. Her eyes saw a flash of the king-sized bed in the sleeping chamber, and it made her heart clench and break all over again, for it immediately made her think of the bed Finn had insisted they bought for their own bedroom.

Had he slept on it with Quinn?

Had it been one of the places where he had committed the worst betrayal against her without no care at all?

“What did Quinn Fabray tell you, Rachel?”

The softly spoken question took her eyes back to Jesse St. James, forcing her to look at his concerned blue eyes, and she realized that she couldn’t deny him the truth. The concern and the worry she saw in his eyes worked as a soothing balm to her shattered heart, and, from what she knew of him, she was aware he wouldn’t accept silence or any attempt of dismissal from her part.

Besides, there wasn’t any way to hide the truth. Quinn didn’t want to hide it anymore. And, Rachel realized with a start, she didn’t want to hide it either. What Quinn had told her just minutes ago had put a definite end to her marriage, and she wouldn’t live a sham of a relationship, no matter what her mother or Finn tried to tell her.

There wasn’t an argument in the world that could make her go back to her marriage after what Finn had done.

Rachel closed her eyes, Quinn’s soft, venomous voice easily echoing into her mind. “She’s having an affair with my husband,” she whispered, clenching her hands so that her nails bit into her palms. It was a double betrayal, from the woman she saw and trusted as one of her closest friends and the man who had sweet-talked her into tying her life and his career to her, who had pretended to love her. “And she is… pregnant… with his baby.”

Only months earlier, she had wanted to have a child, and Finn had been fiercely against it. Jesse’s new TV show, he had claimed, was an awesome opportunity for their careers, and Jesse wouldn’t agree to wait for more than a year to start shooting. Because her deal with Jesse was for one season only, Finn had promised that once it was over they would have their baby.

Now, weeks later, here she was, having just learned that he was having a child with another woman.

Rachel’s lips trembled as she added in a heartbroken whisper, “She said he didn’t want a divorce because I’m… I’m his meal-ticket. His goose with the golden eggs.”

Rachel looked away from him when bitter tears pooled in her eyes and discretely wiped them off. She wouldn’t cry over Finn. She wouldn’t.

“It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want to leave you,” Jesse replied very calmly. “What matters is if **you** want to leave him.”

Deep anger exploded within Rachel, bringing with it a flood of old wounds that she had been inflicted upon by the life her mother had manipulated her into leading since her childhood. Having not achieved success in her own career as a TV actress, Shelby had seen Rachel as the way to have the life and the fortune she had dreamed as a young woman and, in order to achieve that goal, had kept her child from any other option that would deviate her from the purpose and life-plan Shelby herself had made for her daughter. Marrying Finn had been part of that plan… And the baby she had been convinced not to have would be yet another bump in the road. _No more!_ Rachel thought furiously.

The tiny brunette jumped up, her eyes shining with fury and determination as she looked at the man who was calmly waiting for her decision.

“Of course I do!” She said vehemently. “I won’t let Finn, my mother or even **you** sweep this under the rug. I don’t give a damn if it will tarnish my reputation. I will **never** accept Finn back as my husband!”

Jesse smiled slightly, leaving Rachel slightly confused. “Good,” he told her with a gesture towards the couch. “Sit back down, Rachel, please. I just wanted to know if you had any idea on how to deal with the situation, since you’ve been quiet ever since we left the Adrenaline Room.”

“I’m not in the frame of mind to go back down there and start networking again,” she replied angrily. “And I don’t want to see or talk to Finn, or be anywhere near him at all. And the same applies to my mother.”

Jesse sat back and looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment. His hypnotizing blue eyes watched her, evaluating, speculating, making her feel like a butterfly trapped to a pin, being thoroughly examined. She looked away from him, picking her glass back up and taking a sip from her drink, wishing the fire in her throat would burn away the humiliation of being nothing more than a sure-way to make money for the people who had put her in this situation.

_It’s not like Jesse St. James is any different_ , she reminded herself firmly. The only reason he was worried about her now was because of the investment he had made on the show she starred in, of the belief that she and her acting talents would bring him huge profit. Even so, however, she couldn’t help but feel grateful that he had acted and taken her away from the party. The time from the second Quinn silkily whispered her secret to when she took her first sip of cognac in the suite where they were now were missing, but he had obviously noticed the devastating impact of Quinn’s revelation and acted in order to avoid any uproar on the release party.

_After all_ , she thought bitterly, _the show must go on._

But not tonight. Not to her, at least.

“Well, you don’t want to deal with neither your mother nor your husband, who, I’m sure, is at the moment desperately trying to think up a way to place all the blame on Quinn Fabray’s shoulders and to put herself as the innocent victim of the lies and manipulations of a greedy woman…” He trailed off, watching closely for her reaction.

She snorted, and he smiled.

“… and, if he says that, then he’ll be lying,” he carried on calmly. “I’ve watched them tonight, before she found you. They seemed very close and intimate. She was **furious** with him. They’re having an intimate, personal relationship, and for quite a while.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Rachel mumbled, bitterly. “The baby will be proof of it anyway.”

“Not if Quinn is convinced to have an abortion,” he said calmly. A shocked Rachel looked up at Jesse, and he shook his head negatively. “I wouldn’t do that.”

But Finn would. And so would her mother. She knew without him have to say a word that both her husband and her mother would see an abortion as the perfect solution for the unpleasant scandal, to smooth everything up so that she would come back to them, that she would keep doing just what they wanted, to hell with what **she** wanted. Rachel’s head began to burn as she came up with all the arguments they’d subject her to.

“I have to get away from them,” she blurted, looking around in despair. “I have to disappear.” She didn’t seem to notice she was speaking out loud. Her mind was desperately focused on finding a way to leave, but everything she had was tied to either Finn or her mother: her money, her house… her entire life…

“I can help you, Rachel.”

Startled out of her reverie by a statement she wasn’t expecting, she turned to him, her face full of anguish and confusion. He looked calmly back at her, arrogant and confident in what he had just spoken. _I can help you, Rachel_. And just like that she remembered how powerful he was. The blue eyes sparkled with power and confidence.

Yes. Yes, Jesse St. James could help her if he so wanted. _But what would it mean? And at what cost?_

“You need to go somewhere safe, where security will be so tight no one will be able to find you unless you want to be found,” he said calmly, casually. “It’ll be easy for me to get that for you.”

_A peaceful oasis, a refuge, a haven…_ she thought longingly. But soon practical issues popped up. “I’ll need to go home, pack up some clothes.”

“No need,” he dismissed it with a wave. “We can send someone to pack them up for you and then have them delivered. Or we can forget all about your clothes and buy you new ones.”

She chuckled in disbelief. “I don’t even have my credit card with me!”

“So we hire a lawyer to work a way to get both your mother and your husband away from your bank accounts. Meanwhile, I can start a bank account for your bare necessities until you can use your own money.”

She blinked, feeling slightly hopeful. He made everything seem so easy… “My mother will never relinquish control.”

He smirked slightly. “I highly doubt your mother has access to the same weapons I do,” he told her coolly. His eyes shone with determination. Suddenly, he knew what she longed for. Freedom, from her mother and from her good-to-nothing husband. And, with a start, he realized he wanted to help her get that.

Rachel blinked slowly. He was right. Her mother, no matter how much contacts she had, was no match **at all** for him. For the first time in years, freedom seemed within her reach.

“Trust me, Rachel,” he whispered, quietly. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to give you your independence back… if that’s what **you** want.”

It was tempting, so tempting to believe in him. The agreement tingled and burned in the tip of her tongue. The only thing that held her back was the tiny, nagging feeling that she would be changing one way of domination for another, subtler one.

“Why would you do that for me?” The question escaped her lips in a whisper of fear: fear that he was using her longing for freedom as a bait to trap her into something even worse, fear that he planned to shape her into what he wanted her to be, to hell with her wishes.

He looked straight into her eyes and let one of the reasons flow out of his mouth. “I don’t want anything to put the show at risk, Rachel. It’s a project I’ve been working on for a very long time, and you’re the most important part of it. I need you at your best, acting as only you know how. If, to achieve that, I need to rid you of everything that hurts you and make sure that you won’t be disturbed by people who only wish to hurt you, then be it. I’ll create a security perimeter around you so tight that no one will be able to enter it without your express permission. All I ask in return is that you keep giving your best when working on the show as long as it lasts.”

He was only protecting his investment. Of course.

It made sense. Jesse St. James and his station had always been tied to success, never to failure.

For him, keeping her away from Finn, Quinn and her mother wasn’t personal. It was business. Jesse only didn’t want her personal life to shine a bad light onto his newest pet project.

Suddenly, her fears seemed ridiculous even to herself. And even his request seemed slightly weird. She loved the show’s premise, her character and the cast and crew she worked with. She had no plans to leave the show. And she knew with absolute certainty that, if she didn’t have to deal with Quinn, Finn or her mother while on set, she’d give her all.

“I’ll make them disappear,” he said softly, as if reading her mind. “If that’s what **you** want.”

Her exhausted mind was suddenly taken by the image of him as a dark knight, fighting off all of her dragons, and Finn and her mother as the villains who sought to keep her as a pawn for their own personal goals. It was more than tempting – it was the final push for her to accept the offer without thinking it over further.

“Yes, it is what **I** want,” she replied confidently.

“Then yes,” he told her, as if he already knew what she had decided and had only been waiting for her to explicitly confirm it. He then rose from his seat, a man obviously pleased with the battles ahead. “You can wait for me here. You’ll be perfectly safe. You also probably need to eat something. Feel free to order room service. Make yourself at home and relax, and be assured that you won’t deal with any kind of disturbance tonight.”

She watched as he made his way to the door. “Where are you going?”

“Back to the party,” he told her with a wide smile of pure pleasure. “Once I’m done, I seriously doubt anyone will come bother you about your decision to move on from your marriage and your management.”

Rachel felt a thrill of satisfaction. It had been **her** decision.

An independent one.

She felt strangely comforted by that as she watched Jesse, the man who had made so easy for her to leave her suffocating life, leave to start to put their plan in motion. Jesse St. James was a man who had power enough to do anything he wanted, anything he put his mind to. And, now, he was about to use his power to free her of a life that she had always wanted to escape.


	2. two

**the star**

**two**

“What is going on, Jesse?”

Jesse heard the question as soon as he walked back in the Adrenaline Room. Turning around, he came face-to-face with Santana Lopez, owner of one of the most respected blogs about TV shows. Santana was smart as a fox and sharp as a knife when it came to sniff stories out, but she was also honest and blunt and always gave the subjects of her stories the opportunity to come clean before she ran a story. A beautiful Latina with a slim face, curvaceous body, witty tongue and sparkling eyes, she was one of the few bloggers who always had an open invitation to his station’s parties. He liked her and respected her work ethic, and, had her question been about anyone else, he would have answered her truthfully.

But, because it was about Rachel, he just lifted an eyebrow inquiringly. “I’m sorry?”

“About fifteen minutes ago you led Rachel Berry away from this party, and she was white as a sheet,” she told him quietly, looking around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “Now you’re back, but she’s nowhere to be seen. What’s going on?”

“She was feeling slightly ill, so I took her away to rest for a little while,” he replied calmly.

“Ill?” Santana frowned. “What does she have?”

“Nothing big, I promise,” Jesse reassured her. “She was simply exhausted. It’s been quite a few hectic days with the promotional tour for the show, and we’re still shooting. She was feeling slightly dizzy since she didn’t have the time to eat or drink something, so I took her away to eat and drink something,” he explained with a slight frown.

Santana seemed slightly disappointed. “Well, I hope she feels better soon,” she said, concealing her disappointment. “I was looking forward talking to her about the show and her character,” she added.

Jesse smiled. “I’ll ask for her PA to schedule an interview for her with you, how does that sound?”

Santana smiled back. “Sounds great.”

“Then it’s a deal. Now, if you excuse me, I have to find Rachel’s mother to inform her of her condition.”

Santana wrinkled her nose in slight distaste. “She’s that way somewhere,” she swept her hand towards the refreshment table. He looked at the direction she pointed, but Shelby was nowhere to be seen. “Will her condition be an issue to the show?”

“No, of course not,” Jesse replied. “She only needs to be better taken care of. And I’ll personally make sure of that. Now, if you excuse me… I’ll have my people call you next week for that interview,” he added and walked away, his eyes scanning the crowd for Shelby.

Eventually, he found her in a corner of the room, far away from the press and the TV executives that she loved to mingle with, obviously wrapped up in a very fiery argument with her son-in-law and his mistress. The three of them most likely were the only ones not to notice his return, despite the clamor of voices calling his name once his presence had been noticed. He ignored all the demands for his attention, however, instead making his way straight to the arguing trio and stopping close to them, but without being seen at first.

Quinn Fabray could be considered a beautiful woman. A tall, with slightly wavy blonde hair that she wore tied up, fair skin and honey-hazel eyes that sparkled with envy and jealousy when she looked at Rachel (as if she thought Rachel was stupid, undeserving of her star status), she now stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest and such a scowl on her face that no one would consider her beautiful. Jesse knew why Quinn’s behavior that evening had been such a shock to Rachel: until that night, when she had shown her true colors, Quinn had been sweetly helpful, diligent and dedicated, happy to do everything Rachel asked of her. Now that Quinn’s real face was out, Jesse burned with the urge to kick her out of Rachel’s life, permanently.

The same applied to Finn Hudson. He maybe ached even more to kick the lowlife out of the tiny brunette’s life, for lying and cheating on the woman who had selflessly given him everything – if it weren’t for Rachel, the good-for-nothing asshole wouldn’t even have his career. He now looked at the floor, apparently pouting and scowling as Shelby yelled at him and Quinn. He was an extremely tall man, with black, spiky hair and black eyes, and some would call him good-looking. However, his only talents lay in keeping in good shape and convincing Rachel of his supposed writing skills. Jesse felt a stab of satisfaction at knowing that he could now fire the bastard without worrying if that dismissal would lead to Rachel’s departure from the show. _Kiss that good life bye-bye, asshole_ , Jesse thought, and cleared his throat quite loudly.

Finn looked up, his dark eyes widening as he noticed Jesse’s looming presence nearby. He quickly warned the women of his proximity, and Shelby looked back at Jesse, an indecipherable expression in her face as she stepped aside and opened space for him to join them. The tension on the other adults was palpable.

Quinn’s expression, so defiant just a second before, was now a mixture of fear and belligerence. She evidently was aware that her time as Rachel’s personal assistant had come to an end, but she would fight tooth and nail to walk away from the situation with a generous slice of the actress’ hard-earned money – all thanks to stupid Hudson who couldn’t keep it in his pants and had gotten her pregnant (supposedly). Jesse was certain she would live off that money, combined with the alimony she hoped Hudson would pay her – or off the divorce settlement Hudson would get from Rachel, if he chose to stick with her. For Quinn, the supposed pregnancy hadn’t been a mistake. Quite the opposite: it had been the jackpot.

Shelby’s lips with pressed tightly together, her face full of burning fury. She had been obviously calculating the damage this problem would bring along, and the results evidently hadn’t been pleasant. Jesse hid a smirk. She would be even less pleased once she found out her free access to Rachel and to Rachel’s funds were to be definitely cut off.

Hudson was watching him with a look that was more cautious than defiant. Stupid as he was, he wasn’t dumb enough to believe he could fight Jesse and end up winning. Jesse made sure his eyes were blank as he looked at each member of the tiny group, not wanting to spoil the news he had to share with them. But not there. He wouldn’t say a word there, not with so many people close.

“I’m **sure** you’re all **very** concerned with Rachel,” Jesse said calmly – no one would ever know how hard it had been to keep his voice neutral. “I took her to a private suite I had booked, so she could rest and recover. I suggest you come with me so we can sort out this… situation… in private. I also ask that you keep your mouths shut and don’t say anything to the press. I assure you, you won’t like the consequences if you do.”

“You can’t do anything to me, I’m not your employee,” Quinn mocked.

“Quinn, shut up!” Finn snapped.

Jesse ignored the blonde and her lover, turning to Shelby. “Give me your arm, Shelby,” he told her quietly. The smarter of the trio, she didn’t hesitate and linked her arm in his. Jesse looked up, glaring icily at Rachel’s conman husband. “Follow us, Hudson, and bring your slut with you.”

Hudson’s deadly paleness was ruined by the ugly, splotchy blush in his cheek, but Jesse didn’t have the time to revel on the look of shame in his ugly face. He led the way back through the room, towards the exit, with Shelby on his arm and his head turned towards her as they pretended to have a quiet conversation and he mumbled several shallow assurances about Rachel’s health and reprimanding her about taking a better care of Rachel.

Less then five minutes later, the group was out of the party and into an elevator that led them to the confrontation with Rachel. Or so Shelby, Quinn and Finn thought. In truth, Jesse led them to a conference room where a butler promptly let them in and gave Jesse the keycard. Jesse had booked the conference room after leaving Rachel at the penthouse suite but before going back to the party.

Shelby was the first to react to Rachel’s absence.

“Where’s my daughter?” She demanded. She couldn’t let Rachel away from her, not at such a delicate moment. If she allowed Rachel any leeway, everything she had worked so hard for would be ruined. She had to convince Rachel she was as unaware as her daughter of Finn’s affair with Quinn, even though she had noticed the signs months earlier.

“Where she chose to be – and that is not here, Shelby,” Jesse replied coldly. His icy eyes locked at Quinn. “Considering the… situation, it’ll be best for all the involved if Miss Fabray is fired from her job as Rachel’s personal assistant, effective now. Don’t you agree, Shelby?”

“I don’t even want to work for that spoiled little bitch anyway,” Quinn muttered, but Jesse ignored her. Shelby, smart enough to know arguing wouldn’t be beneficial to her.

“Of course, I’ll file all the due papers in the morning,” Shelby assured him.

Jesse turned to look at Finn. “As for you, you’re fired from my screenwriting team. Also effective now.”

“You can’t do that!” Finn yelled in outrage. “I have a contract, it’s valid until the end of the season!”

“I honestly don’t give a fuck about your contract. I’ll pay to let you go if necessary, but I doubt it will. You were only hired as part of Rachel’s conditions to sign with me. Since she doesn’t want your ass anywhere near her, consider the contract null and void. Oh, and Rachel’s also filing for divorce.”

“I’ll sue you for illegal release of contract,” Finn threatened. Jesse narrowed his eyes at him.

“Go ahead,” he said silkily, “and I’ll make sure you won’t find work in this city, not even gathering trash. Do **not** mess with me, Hudson.”

“For fuck’s sake!” Finn threw his hands up in the air. “Yes, I’ve fucked up in my **private** life! It does not affect my professional life! It doesn’t concern you!”

“Oh, but it does,” Jesse replied, calmly, “when your private life affects **my** business. Besides, you have no fucking talent to write. All of your inputs have been reworked by the other writers. I’ll say again: do **not** mess with me, Hudson. You won’t like the consequences. Not even your ‘aw-shucks’ face will get you anywhere if you fuck with me.”

Finn slumped on the nearest chair, stunned that his fling with his wife’s assistant had brought such a quick and sharp backlash: banished from the A-list rich and famous lifestyle he had been used to leading since the start of his relationship with Rachel, under the risk of being summarily exiled from the celebrity world he had until them lived in thanks to his marriage and without the protection of his wife by his side, he had no weapon to threaten Jesse with. No fuck, no matter how hot, was worth all that!

Satisfied that Finn was at last completely aware of the consequences of dipping his dick in Quinn’s pool, Jesse focused his attention on Rachel’s mother. He had to thread very carefully when it came to her. Although Rachel had been vehement in her claim that she didn’t want to see or talk to Shelby ever again, the bonds of affection that tied mother and child together could run deep. Rachel was hurting now, but she could later reconsider and want to allow her mother back into her life. Jesse couldn’t do anything dramatic until Rachel cooled down and they spoke again.

“I don’t think you acted with your daughter’s best interests in mind when you allowed these two parasites into her life, Shelby. And you should have, both as her mother and as her manager,” he said calmly.

Shelby squawked in protest. “ **This** ,” she yelled, pointing at Finn and Quinn, “is **not** my fault!”

“Their sleeping together isn’t,” Jesse conceded, “but **you** hired Quinn as Rachel’s PA. **You** allowed Finn to tie his non-existent career to Rachel’s. Certainly you’re not unaware that Finn’s hiring as a screenwriter to any production is a condition to Rachel signing on?” He asked coolly. Shelby opened her mouth, but no reply came out. “And those are the only two bad calls you’ve made as Rachel’s **manager**. I don’t even want to think of the bad calls you’ve made as her **mother**.” He fell silent for a moment, then added, “We’ll meet tomorrow at eleven at my office to discuss if you must go on acting as Rachel’s manager.”

“If Rachel ever decides to let me go as her manager, that’s between my **daughter** and me,” Shelby hissed.

“Not anymore,” Jesse told her. “As of tonight, Rachel gave me power of attorney to act in her name when it concerns her career and my TV show. That’s what I’ll do, Shelby. Trust me on that.” He made another pause and then tacked on. “Bring a lawyer with you tomorrow, because mine will surely be there.”

Shelby felt a shiver of fear skitter in her blood. “Let me speak to her, Jesse,” she pleaded. “You can’t do that, you can’t interfere in the relationship between a mother and her child!”

“I can, when the child is Rachel. I can, when she tells me she doesn’t want to talk to you, to see you, to have you anywhere near her,” Jesse replied confidently. “I suggest accepting that your domination over her is over. Focus on doing damage control to your own career if word comes out of the conditions involving Finn and Rachel. Do not come after me. I’m a great adversary and I don’t hold back when it comes down to protecting what’s mine, Shelby.”

The threat hung heavily in the air for a few moments. Jesse broke the silence by pushing away of the ample table. “I’m going back to the ballroom. None of you will be allowed back in there tonight. The butler will be back shortly to escort you. It will be best if you leave the hotel immediately.”

He then walked away from them and went back to the party. Once again, Santana was the first to spot him and made a beeline for him, with his own personal assistant, Marley Rose, in tow. “I hope you won’t be upset with me, Jesse, but I took the liberty of talking to your PA about that interview with Rachel,” the Latina told him. Marley looked questioningly at her boss, who nodded.

“It’s no problem, Santana. Marley, please talk to Rachel in the next days about sitting down for an interview with Santana, will you? And set up an appointment tomorrow with Matt at nine,” he instructed his young PA, who nodded and made a note at her phone.

“No problem, boss,” she replied cheerfully, then walking away to join Ryder Lynn, another employee of his. Santana then turned back to Jesse.

“Rachel’s family is with her now?”

“They won’t be back tonight,” he told her calmly. “Meanwhile, why don’t you talk to the rest of the cast about the show, Santana? I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to talk to you and answer any question you have about our new release.” He smiled at her and led her towards Blaine Anderson, Rachel’s love interest of the show. She smiled at the young actor and soon they were engaged in animated conversation about his character.

Forty minutes later, he discretely snuck out of the party, this time for good. Matt had sent him a text confirming the meeting for the next morning, and asking what it was about. Jesse succinctly explained what had happened that evening, and Matt assured him he’d give his best to get Shelby, Quinn and Finn permanently out of Rachel’s life – and to help the young actress keep all her assets. The hotel security also approached him and told him Rachel’s mother, husband and former PA had left the hotel, which was obviously a relief.

Thinking of the next steps he had to take to protect Rachel of the leeches she had attached to her, he reached the penthouse suite. He hoped she remained firm in her decision to break free from Shelby and Hudson. He didn’t want to have to persuade her to keep on the path she had just taken tonight. She couldn’t go back to her life how it had been until Quinn had dropped her little bomb on her. Actions to change that had been taken. She had a new place in life now.

And that place was right next to him.

The idea popped out of nowhere, bringing with it a deep satisfaction. He felt so possessive towards Rachel that it was almost weird for him. In order to ensure his own freedom, he had always been deeply respectful of women’s freedom and choices. But, as an actress, Rachel Berry belonged to him, at least until she wanted out of the show – and if it were up to him her leaving the show would come only when the show itself ended.

Now, as a person, she was free of everyone that had previously tied her back. If not legally, at least factually she was a single woman. That gave Jesse a window of opportunity to decide what to do when it came to his personal interest towards her. And that, he admitted if only to himself, was something very exciting.

Rachel was the most interesting woman he had ever met, and she was no longer being dragged down by her stupid husband. If he played his cards right, he could claim her, have her for himself, uncover her layers for as long as he wanted.

But that, of course, would not happen tonight. Jesse wasn’t stupid. Rachel held fidelity in high regard, and was now hurting. It would only cause damage to their relationship if he made a pass on her now, when she was in such a delicate emotional state. His desire for her could – and would – wait.

With that in mind, he slid the keycard in the lock and opened the door.

. . . .

She was still curled up on the armchair he had left her sitting in. Looking back at her life, she had been left with a terrible feeling of emptiness, the awareness that, for her mother, she mattered most as a perfect image on a TV screen than as a person who had real needs, which were sorely ignored and/or dismissed as unimportant.

The fact that Finn seemed more interested in Rachel as a woman than as a famous actress had been what led her to fall for him. His focus on her as a person made her feel truly loved and cared for, for the first time in years, since her father had passed away. She now believed his interest in her interests had been false. After they were married, he often took her mother’s side over hers, adding to the pressure of her keeping her image as a squeaky-clean young woman, justifying the sudden change in behavior by claiming she was one in a million as an actress, that she had a duty towards her young fans as a role model.

Day by day, the passion between them vanished as disappointment after disappointment piled up. Still, it was easier to share a house and a life with him than to have her mother breathing down her neck every single day; so, she did everything he asked in order to keep the relationship going smoothly. That included conditioning her signing deals for movies and TV shows to his hiring as a screenwriter for the producing company or the TV station. She had tried to take that clause out of the contract with Jesse, but Finn had claimed that, as a screenwriter of the show, he could defend her interests and ensure she had creative control over the direction the show could take.

But that, like everything else that came out of her mother’s and Finn’s mouths, was a lie.

It had been all a lie.

Instead of protecting her career, of ensuring her creative control over her career as he had claimed he was doing, he was making one of her dreams come true with **Quinn**. He had slept with Quinn, had gotten Quinn pregnant behind her back, while to her face he pretended to be a loving, concerned husband. She now knew the truth. He loved the advantages of her carreer: the money, the connections, the fame. For Finn, she was nothing more than the means to the life that **he** wanted… the life **her mother** wanted.

If she was honest with herself, she had been unhappy with her marriage for a while now. They had been married for five years now, and the feelings weren’t there anymore, and she felt like she had wasted five years of a life in a sham. That was one of the reasons she wanted to have a baby. She believed having a child would mean her marriage hadn’t been a waste of her time, and that her child would be someone who would really love her – who she would love back so very much. For her child, she’d do everything, be the mother her own mother hadn’t been for her.

Rachel had put a second shot of cognac of herself and now sipped it, enjoying the fire it lit inside her. The warmth down her throat made her feel alive, cemented her decision to take charge of her own life as soon as she had Finn and her mother out of her path. It felt great to have Jesse as an ally, knowing that he would help her go through so many sudden changes, a rock for her to briefly lean on while learning to navigate these strange new tides. It felt even better to know that Jesse did not see her as a prize, as means to an end. His interest in her rested only in her work as an actress for his show. He wanted her trouble-free so she could focus on giving her best at work. A man like him, she thought, wanted the project to reach its potential on its entirety. She could understand that. She was crucial for it to happen, and Jesse was working to make sure it happened the way he had envisioned it.

A man like him…

The words kept echoing in her mind, and Rachel tried to analyze what they meant. Jesse’s actions towards her were surprisingly unexpected. He was famous for being demanding, tough and extremely picky. Many media outlets presented Jesse as someone blunt and short-tempered, who spoke the truth as he saw it, not caring about how other people would feel. That was not the Jesse she saw. He had spoken to her with kindness, calm in front of her turbulent emotions, and very clear on her options. He was very confident too, speaking in a very assured way. He knew who he was and what he could do. And that…

… was that what gave him the sexual magnetism that always left her shivering? It probably was… and she also probably wasn’t the only one who felt so deeply affected by it. It was very likely that any woman in his presence felt the same way she did.

Rachel was so absorbed by her thoughts that time passed by her and she was unaware. It was the soft click of the door opening that brought her out of her reverie, causing her to startle and turn in her seat, coming face to face with the man who did everything in his power to ensure her peace.

It was so much easier to keep her thoughts in order when he wasn’t present. The moment Jesse appeared, smiling softly at her, her heart both raced and clenched with apprehension. She looked at him fearfully, and he smiled comfortingly at her.

“Everything’s alright,” he assured her. “You won’t have to see any of them unless you choose to.” His eyes went to the half-full glass she had in her hands, then to the other empty tables on the room. “Did you choose to not eat anything? Aren’t you hungry?”

“Ah, I…” She blushed slightly, looking down shyly as she recalled how he had suggested she order some room service before he left. “It didn’t even… it didn’t even cross my mind. I’m sorry.”

He smiled softly at her. “It was a suggestion only, Rachel. You didn’t have to order if you didn’t want to.” He picked up the cordless phone from its base. “But **I** am a little hungry. I’m going to order a few sandwiches. This way, you can eat if you choose to.”

Rachel smiled and nodded as she watched him move through the room, dialing then talking to room service. Flipping through the menu, he added an order of fries to the sandwiches, then turned to her. “Tea, coffee, juice or cocoa?”

“Orange juice, please, no sugar. And ketchup,” she added. He frowned at her, confused, and she blushed deeper. “I like my fries with ketchup,” she explained slightly defensively, not caring for a second if it made her look childish.  She suddenly felt ravenous.

He grinned at her, and doubled the order of fries. Rachel pondered that, while his grin made him look youthful, it didn’t make him look any less threatening. His grin made her think he was always one step ahead of her, carefully planning that so she felt better about having him as an ally. Rachel shook herself up, quickly discarding the thought. Jesse wasn’t the awful guy people portrayed him as. At least not to her.

She wondered how things went down with her mother, her former husband and former PA. And decided she’d ask him as soon as he was off the phone.

After he wrapped his order up and hung the phone, he picked up a notepad by the phone’s cradle and wrote something on a sheet. He then retook the seat he had occupied earlier that evening. “I’ve reserved another suite for me and asked that reception blocked all the calls to this one. This way you won’t be bothered during the night. Tomorrow, you can have breakfast and once you’re ready you can call me on this number,” he showed her the notepad, “and we’ll meet to go over the next steps, okay?”

She nodded, both relieved and disappointed that it hadn’t even crossed his mind to spend the night in the same suite as her. Not that she wanted him to. After all, it was public knowledge that Jesse was in an unlabeled relationship with Andrea Cohen, a breathtaking, very classy model. Although Andrea hadn’t accompanied Jesse to the party (Rachel guessed it had been because of previous engagements of hers), Rachel didn’t think her absence immediately meant Jesse would jump in bed with some other woman. He didn’t look the type of man who did that.

Besides, she was no homewrecker. She was a firm believer of the ‘don’t-do-to-others-what-you-don’t-want-to-have-done-to-you’ policy.

For Jesse, Rachel was only business. Even if he considered best to spend the night in her suite to keep her company, it was awesome that he had decided not to. She could not **relax** when he was present. His magnetism drew her in, and she didn’t know what it could lead her to do. Her eyes went to the bed. It made her feel good, to know she’d be sleeping on a bed that she knew Finn hadn’t slept with Quinn in. A shiver ran down her spine and she decided she’d get rid of the bed she had at her house. Probably it would be best to list up the house. It was full of bad memories anyway.

“Hudson is no longer part of the show’s crew,” he told her conversationally. “I fired him from the writing team. And Quinn Fabray is also gone. They’re both out of your professional life, and I’ve revoked their set pass.”

_He’s cleaned up the set so the show can go on and I can focus on my work_ , Rachel thought. Finn’s and Quinn’s banishment from her workplace made her feel both avenged and satisfied. “Great,” she smiled, looking at the man who was using the power he had to give her peace on her working environment. “Thank you,” she added, gratefully.

He nodded slightly at her, his face growing serious. “Room service will take a few moments to deliver our order, and we need to discuss what to do about your mother.”

Rachel felt her heart clench again, anger reigniting against her mother for everything she did and didn’t do for her, and deciding right there and then to be against anything she had suggested to Jesse. The blue eyes didn’t leave her, adding to her tension.

“I have revoked her set access pass as well,” he told her calmly, “but it won’t matter if you choose to keep her as your manager.”

“NO!” The word came out in a wave of hurt. A flood of doubts came shortly after. She had no idea if she was legally obligated to keep her mother as her manager. “Do I **have** to keep her?”

He made a humming noise. “I thought you wouldn’t want to, so I took the liberty to set up a business meeting with her tomorrow at my office to wrap up the business relationship between you and her.”

He **had** been paying attention to her. She blinked at him, perplexed.

“However, you still have to sign the documents that will end the relationship. I’ve made the first move, but in the end the decision is still yours.”

“I do not want her responsible to anything that relates to **me** ,” Rachel declared, vehemently.

Jesse nodded slightly. “Then we’ll give my lawyer _carte blanche_ to do what is necessary to fire her as your manager.”

_That easily?_ Rachel shook her head in amazement, barely able to believe that the chains that had held her back her entire life could be broken so easily. “She’ll try to fight you – fight **us**. What did you say when you set up the meeting?”

Jesse shrugged, stretching his back to get the kinks in his muscles out. “She wanted to see you. Said I couldn’t interfere in a mother’s relationship with her child. I didn’t let her, of course.”

“Good,” she nodded. “I don’t want to listen to what she has to say anyway.”

“I told her that,” he told her with a grin. She grinned back.

_Of course. It’s easy for him because he’s not emotionally invested_ , she thought. For him, everything he had done tonight was only a matter of business. It was easy for him to fire her mother, because it was the end of a relationship between an actress and her (bad) manager.

“Do I **need** to be at the meeting?” She asked quietly.

“Do you **want** to be?” Jesse seemed relaxed, at ease. Once again, the decision was hers: did she want to be a part of the procedures or not?

She only needed two minutes to come to her choice. “No,” she said. In her mind she could already see the fit her mother would throw, the emotional blackmail she’d attempt, the fake tears she would shed, the list of all the things Shelby had (supposedly) done for Rachel.

But it hadn’t been for Rachel.

It had never been.

Jesse watched her for a minute, then asked quietly, “Are you afraid she’ll manage to talk you into keeping her as your manager?”

“No!” Rachel exclaimed, stunned. “She’ll make this whole dramatic scene about how I’m being the worst daughter, how I owe her my career. I don’t want that. If you can solve everything without me…”

“Well, I can ask my lawyer to bring papers for you to sign giving him power of attorney to act in your behalf. He can represent you in the procedures.” He picked up his phone, tapped at the screen and, after a few minutes, nodded and put his phone aside. “Matt will bring the papers for you to sign tomorrow morning when he joins us for breakfast. You’ll also be able to instruct him further. He’ll act accordingly.”

“Thank you,” she said again.

More decisions made… by her… for her.

“There’s no need to thank me,” he told her, and his phone beeped. He picked it up, unblocked it and read the message, looking up back to her. “Is eight okay for you?”

“Yes, but…” She bit her lower lip and looked down at the luxurious, deep blue silk gown she was wearing. “I only have this to wear.”

“A bathrobe will work to sleep and have breakfast tomorrow morning,” he assured her. “I’ll ask my PA, Marley, to bring clothes for you. She has a network of contacts that can help her with that, having worked for a fashion magazine before she moved on to work for me. So don’t worry with that. Just try to rest, relax and think of what you want to do about the situation as whole.”

_Think of you want to do about the situation_. Those words made her feel good. It was awesome to see that neither her mother nor Finn had a hand on what would be of her life from now on. What happened to her life and her career would be up to her – and to her **only**. Jesse, although he was helping her, wasn’t making any decisions in her place. She watched as he picked his phone up and sent a voice message to his PA to “work your magic with Kitty and find some clothes for Rachel to wear for the next few days.”

A pleasant warmth filled her chest as she watched him. Suddenly, the power he wielded didn’t seem so intimidating and scary. He was using it in her name, as her fearless knight, slaying her dragons.

Rachel couldn’t help but like him a little bit for that.


	3. three

**the star**

**three**

Contrary to what Jesse had so generously suggested, Shelby didn’t bring her lawyer with her to the meeting at Jesse’s office. She strutted into his waiting room extravagantly dressed: a purple dress, red belt, red nails and the self-confidence of a woman who had always had her daughter under her domain and believed it would never change. Madison, Jesse’s secretary, greeted her politely, offered her drinks and coffee, then discretely warned Marley of Shelby’s presence. A few minutes later, Marley allowed her in Jesse’s office.

Not even Rachel’s absence at the meeting and Jesse’s lawyer’s cool presence seemed to shake her. Shelby seemed to be under the impression that Rachel was already regretting what she had said and done the previous night. In fact, the manager was of opinion that her own absence from her daughter’s life would leave a void too large in Rachel’s life for anyone to fill. Not used to dealing with other managers, producers and endorsers, Rachel wouldn’t be able to manage the business aspect of her career on her own, and, now that idiotic Finn Hudson had stupidly allowed his blonde bimbo of a mistress to let the cat out of the bag, she had no one but her dear mother to turn to for help.

Jesse greeted Shelby coolly, introducing Matthew Rutherford as both his personal lawyer and head of his station’s legal department. Once Shelby and Matt shook hands, Jesse invited Shelby to sit down and did the same, taking the place behind the desk.

“Matt and I have spoken to Rachel both last night and this morning, and she remains adamant on what she has decided, meaning she has decided to let you go as her manager,” Jesse told Shelby, signaling at Matt to give Shelby the paper that marked the end of her business relationship with her daughter.

Shelby didn’t even take the time to pick it and pretend to read it, waving it off uninterestedly. “This isn’t worth even the paper and the ink you’ve wasted printing it. As soon as she calms down, Rachel will come running back to me. If you hadn’t stepped in last night and interfered with our issues, nothing would have happened and everything would have gone on as it always has been,” she told them confidently.

Jesse rose an eyebrow, the look in his eyes growing icy. “Meaning, you would’ve talked Rachel into staying with that good-for-nothing cheating husband of hers?” He shook his head slightly, scoffing. “The only problem in your scenario, Shelby, is that your **solution** would have ruined **my** investment. Rachel would be too busy with her heartbreak over his betrayal and she wouldn’t act to the best of her abilities, and that would send my project down the drain. I acted in order to protect my interests, and will continue to support Rachel as long as she feels she needs me to.”

“Ah… I’m **sure** you will continue to take care of what **you** think are Rachel’s best interest. But that will last just as long as her contract with you lasts. However, what will be of my poor daughter after it ends?” Shelby sat back, triumph in her eyes. “I’m the only one who will always be by Rachel’s side, always. I have been since her career began.”

“But not anymore. Once her contract with me expires, I’ll help her hire a good, respected manager who won’t keep an exorbitant percentage of the money **she** earns, like you do. Don’t try to deny it, Shelby. Rachel told us everything this morning. In fact, she’s considering to sue you for the money you’ve been stealing from her ever since her career started,” Jesse told Shelby calmly, crossing his fingers as he waited for the fireworks.

The vulture Rachel had for a mother didn’t disappoint. “The nerve! How dare you?” She exploded. “Without me, Rachel would be **nothing**! Nothing! And she knows that! I’ve planned every single step of that girl’s career, trained her to be able to play any role, chose all the projects that would be better to give her visibility and gave her all the necessary support for her to turn into the star you’re now exploring! If Rachel is what she is now, it’s because of me!”

“No, it isn’t,” Jesse shot back, a small smirk in his lips. “It isn’t your face lighting up the screen. It isn’t your talent making waves. It isn’t your versatility earning raving reception from both critics and public. It’s all **Rachel**. She has a gift that **you** explored to your benefit. Truth is, Rachel would be what she is even without you. It’s **you** who is nothing without her.”

Jesse saw the anger in her eyes, the hopelessness at knowing there was nothing she could do against him. “You think you’re better than me, don’t you?” She challenged him, getting up brusquely. “Let me tell you’re not, St. James. I’ll tell anyone who will listen what an awful human being you are. You’ll be ruined. Not even Youtube will accept your poor excuses for entertainment in their platform once I’m done with you.”

His smirk widened. “Be my guest,” he waved his hand in a sweeping gesture. “If you want to measure the strength of your credibility against mine, then by all means. But remember what I told you last night, Shelby. I’m a formidable adversary and I have no qualms against playing dirty if needed. I advise you take what you’ve stolen from Rachel and move on with your life. But if you want to send your career down the drain, then that’s your decision.”

Shelby growled as he called out her bluff. “Why are you doing that? Rachel is a consummate professional! She wouldn’t allow her troubled marriage to cause problems at work!”

Jesse shrugged and sat back, an ironic smirk still playing at the corner of her lips. “I like playing the role of vigilante. After all, every boy always dreams of being Batman.”

“Do you? Or is this just a way into my daughter’s pants?” Shelby narrowed her eyes at him.

It was too low of a blow to be ignored. Jesse mockingly lifted an eyebrow. “I think you have me confused with that man-whore you call son-in-law, Shelby. I’m a little too busy with Andrea Cohen at the time and have been for quite a while now. I’m aware I have a reputation with the ladies, but it’s not of juggling two or more women at the same time. Plus, I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

Shelby picked her handbag from where she had put it on a chair next to hers and put it on her shoulder. “Whatever interest it is that you have in Rachel, you’ll move on from her eventually. People always leave. And once you’re no longer in the picture, she’ll come running back to me.”

_Never_ , Jesse thought, taken by a fierce protective instinct, so strong that it surprised him. “We’ll see,” he replied behind clenched teeth, and both him and his lawyer watched as Shelby Corcoran left his office, with a mocking smile on her lips. Seeing that, he made a promise to herself that she would never deal with Rachel’s business ever again.

“That’s a woman I wouldn’t want anywhere near my career.”

Jesse blinked and looked up at his lawyer. Two years younger than Jesse, Matthew Rutherford was a tall African-American with shaved head and kind eyes who hid a quick, sharp mind behind a calm demeanor and subtle smile. “The trick is not to let her make you bleed with those red claws of hers,” he joked, and Matt grinned. Both men grew serious after a moment, and Jesse added, “She has harmed Rachel more than enough, Matt.”

“I have no doubt of that,” Matt took the chair Shelby had just vacated. “Considering what Rachel has told us of her finances since the beginning of her career, I could probably sue Shelby for fraudulent appropriation of funds and-”

“No,” Jesse interrupted at once. “What’s gone is gone. I acted to keep Rachel from being part of a scandal, and we won’t work to cause another one. It’ll be best for Rachel if we let bygones be bygones instead of forcing her to relive everything in front of a judge. She’ll be happier if she focuses on what she knows best from now on. We just have to keep that vulture she calls her mother away from her.”

“I can file a restraining order, and we can find her a body-guard. Do you want me to ask Sam to find her one?”

Jesse nodded. Sam Evans was Matt’s close friend and head of the station HR department. “Please. It has to be someone who will make her feel at ease, comfortable, almost like a brother. But it has to be an experienced man, about your age or mine. Tell Sam to send him over to my Malibu house as soon as possible for an interview.”

“Done,” Matt smiled as he tapped a message to Mike. “You know, Jesse, I never saw you as the vigilante type, but I admit there’s something about Rachel Berry that makes people want to help and protect her.”

Jesse wanted the body-guard to feel the same way, and that was why he wanted someone who would see Rachel not as a woman he wanted to bed, but as a member of their family. It would take time for Rachel to get over the emotional wounds caused by Finn’s actions, and to accept someone else in her life as a romantic partner, and Jesse wanted to be that someone else. But it wouldn’t happen if he had a rival spending more time with her than he did.

“She’s a very special woman,” Jesse agreed, standing up with a smile. “And it doesn’t hurt me to rescue and protect her. In fact, dealing with the leeches that have surrounded her until now is a gratifying little challenge. It helps me keep my inner asshole in shape.”

Matt laughed. “Now that’s the Jesse I know. I’m sure verbally smacking down her monster mom is very satisfying. You’re going back to the hotel now?”

“I am.” Jesse picked up his phone and blazer and made his way to the door, Marley following him for further instructions as it was their habit. “Don’t forget to file the papers to let that bastard Hudson go.”

Matt nodded. “I won’t. Send Rachel my best.”

“I will.” Jesse opened the door, allowed Marley to go first. “Thanks again, Matt.”

. . . .

Despite being alone and comfortably curled up in a bathtub filled with warm, soapy, aromatic water, Rachel couldn’t relax. Her brain bubbled with the plans for her new, independent life. She had nearly died with shame when she revealed to Jesse and Matthew, his lawyer, her inability to support herself. According to Rachel, her father had started a trust fund for her with the money she had been earning ever since she started acting as a child, and said fund had come due when she was 18. When she went to the bank to take over the money and send Shelby packing, it had been a shock for her to find out the money had mysteriously vanished.

The bank manager did a little digging and then found out that, after Rachel’s father’s death, Shelby had taken over the fund and dissolved it, putting the money back into her own account. Since then, she controlled every penny Rachel made and used it the way she thought fit: it had been Shelby who had bought the house Rachel had lived with her husband and everything she owned. She also used the money to buy her everything she deemed necessary to portray the appearance of a respected, successful manager. Rachel had hoped for access to her money once she married, but Shelby had given Finn a second credit card for Rachel’s account and the passwords to access it, with firm orders to not give it to Rachel, claiming she would spend every penny in the bank if he did so.

Unable to access her hard-earned money, Rachel resigned herself to work under her mother’s orders, although more often than not lately employers were depositing the money in a bank account Rachel had opened herself and that she controlled with her fingerprint. Still, it held nowhere near the amount of money the account controlled by Finn and Shelby held.

Luckily, Rachel loved to work. She had been a creative little girl, coming up with fantasy worlds and imaginary friends, and it was that creativity that allowed Rachel to embody any character demanded of her. She was an empathetic person, and that translated well to portraying emotion onscreen. But, more often than not, Rachel longed to have a normal, real life, where there was no pretenses, no spectacle, where no one expected her to be more than what she really was.

Without her mother and without Finn constantly pushing her into each and every role they deemed good for her resumé (meaning, that paid well enough for their tastes), she could have the creative control over her career that had managed to elude her all her life and could make her own decisions. The latter had been happening since Jesse had stepped in and helped her find a way to the freedom she desperately wanted. She was thrilled and grateful that he had taken over dealing with her mother and Finn for now, but the time has come for her to start working out on her issues herself in order to really achieve the independence she so desperately craved.

The phone rang, and Rachel jumped, heart racing.

It could only be him. Before he left he had reiterated with the hotel staff his others that no call other than his was to be transferred to her room. Shaking slightly, she held her hand out and carefully picked the cordless phone from where she had left it on the sink. “Yes?” She asked, anxiously.

“Your mother has been given her due,” she heard his voice saying calmly. “Matt was with me and she was legally notified that her time as your manager is over from now on. I’m on my way back to the hotel. Marley told me she asked her friend to bring you some clothes, do you like them?”

She nodded for a few seconds before she realized he couldn’t see her and felt her face heating up with embarrassment. “Yes, yes, thank you. And thank Marley for me, will you? I’ve written down the prices of those I’ve chosen so I can pay you back once I have access to my account.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he told her. “Now that you’re adequately dressed, are you ready to show your face to the world?”

Panic rose within her. “What?!” She squeaked. What if there was a reporter outside the hotel, just waiting to attack her with questions about Finn, Quinn and her mother?

“Rachel?” Jesse’s calm voice cut through her panicked mind. “Relax. Breathe. It’s just a lunch at one of the hotel’s eateries. I’ve booked a table for the two of us at Carmel’s, the world cuisine restaurant by the pool. You’ll be safe there, I promise.”

_Safe and, with a little luck, more relaxed eating with him on a public setting_. It had been hard enough the previous night – once the room service order had arrived, he had sat down on the floor and invited her to sit by his side. They had eaten with their shoulders pressed against each other, sharing fries from the same bowl (she had squeezed ketchup on a plate and would roll her fries in it before eating them), and more often than not their fingers would brush against each other. The feel of his skin against her had left her a tense, nervous wreck, too aware of how attracted she was to him.

“Oh. Sure, I guess. How was your meeting?”

“I’ll tell you everything over lunch. I’ll arrive in about thirty minutes. See you there.”

Thirty minutes…

Rachel ended the call and stood up from her bath, wrapping a fluffy white towel around her wet body. Dropping the phone back on its cradle, she made her way back to the bedroom, where the shopping bags with her brand new clothes waited. She eventually picked out a white silk dress with pink details to wear. It had been the first article of clothing that caught her eye from the several options Marley’s friend Unique brought her, and when she tried it on it made her feel beautiful and confident.

Quickly patting herself dry, she made a mental note to send Marley flowers for her thoughtfulness; the girl had thought of everything, including makeup, hair and tooth brushes and underwear. She carefully applied her makeup and fixed her hair in a slicked back, high ponytail, wishing not to give any reason for anyone to criticize her. Especially her mother, who she thought capable of having moles anywhere in this town.

She looked at herself in the mirror once she was done and was surprisingly pleased with her results. Gone was the exhausted and doubtful girl she saw herself as; in her place there was a calm and confident young woman who was able to take care of her life and her career. The thought made Rachel so happy it brought a big smile to her face. Today marked the beginning of a new stage of her life and, for the first time today, she noticed what a beautiful day it was. The sun shone, the sky was a cloudless blue. The hotel was close to the famous Hollywood sign, and the penthouse windows had magnificent views.

She heard the telltale soft click of the door opening, and her heart raced as she turned around and her eyes locked with Jesse’s blue ones. Apparently there was nothing she could do to avoid the impact seeing Jesse always had on her. He briskly made his way to the living room, but came to a sudden halt when he noticed her standing close to the wide windows, which were from floor to ceiling. His blue eyes were wide and he blinked owlishly.

A crazy thought popped into her mind: maybe she wasn’t the only one being impacted in that room? Maybe she had the same breathtaking impact on him that he had on her. It was probably an absurd thought, but, for a few short seconds, silence reigned between them and a wave of electricity surged, firing up all her senses.

“Maria…” She thought she heard him whisper. But it was so softly said that she certainly had misheard him.

“Pardon?” She asked, curiously.

He blinked and shook himself, a small smile on his lips. “Nothing. I’m sorry, you’ve just reminded me of someone.”

Maybe a woman he had loved, once? Rachel felt the undeniable urge to grill him about this woman, but the moment passed when he collected and recomposed himself, once again the picture of self-control. “That’s a beautiful dress,” he praised politely. “It fits you.”

Rachel blushed with his praised and shyly looked down, something that deeply satisfied him, but he pretended not to notice (it would only spook her off) and went straight to business. “I need you to sign this for me. It’s a permission form for the moving company to enter your house, pack your things and ship them off to the guest house in my Malibu estate. I’ll fax it over to them,” he said casually.

Rachel picked the paper up, read it and tried not to display any reaction to the implied offer. Yes, she wanted to get her things from the house she used to live in with her former husband, and yes, she needed somewhere to live until she could reclaim control of her money, but being somewhere so close to Jesse seemed dangerous… risky. She hadn’t thought of that before and had no alternative plan, but… “I’m sure I can find an apartment to rent month-by-month. I don’t want to intrude in your-”

“I won’t be able to ensure your safety anywhere else, Rachel. Not like I will if you move in my estate. And don’t worry about my privacy. You won’t be living with me per se. I’ve asked my staff to prepare the guest house for you, and they were thrilled with the opportunity of more people to spoil rotten. Besides, we must keep in mind that, once the news break that you’re divorcing your husband, it won’t just be your mother or Hudson coming after you. The press will go crazy and the paps will follow your every step. I can assure you, you’ll be completely safe at my house. I’ll make sure you’re protected at all times. Consider it a temporary arrangement until we find you a house to move in safely.”

His words brought his brain to a screeching halt. She had completely forgotten about the press. Not for the first time, the idea of being under his protection looked very appealing. Knowing her mothers stubborn streak, and how Finn could be insistent when he wanted to, the two of them could very easily pursue her to try to change her mind until she broke down and gave in. Add the paparazzi and the reporters to the mix, and living anywhere but at Jesse’s famous fortress would be hell on Earth in those first days after revealing to the world that her marriage had come to an end.

She opened her mouth to agree, when another disturbing thought came to her mind. “People might start talking about us.” She blushed deeply. “I mean… that I’ve left Finn… so we could be together.”

Jesse chuckled slightly, his lips turning into a small, ironic smirk, as if the suggestion that they could be lovers only amused him. “Then I’ll make it very clear you’re at my house only as my guest, Rachel. That my interest in your well-being is only of an investor looking out for the star of his show as she goes through a difficult and traumatic experience.”

Heat filled her cheeks again. Once again, it felt absurd to think it would be dangerous to move into his property. Jesse constantly made clear that all his actions were with business reasons in mind. He wouldn’t either abuse or use her. Not to mention he was in a relationship with another woman. “What about Andrea Cohen? She might not like it,” she said, tentatively.

Jesse shrugged. “Then that’s her problem, but I’ll talk to her and explain the situation. Andy and I go way back. I’m sure she’ll understand. If she doesn’t, then I’ll deal with the issue.”

Of course he would. He would also deal with her issues. Not for the first time she felt foolish to think that he hadn’t considered every aspect of his decisions. She took a deep breath and looked up at him. “Do you have a pen?” She asked. No time like the present to accept his offer.

Jesse smiled slightly and pulled a beautiful Montblanc pen from the inner pocket of his jacket. Rachel smiled back and shuffled towards the center table, sitting down on the couch so she could sign the paper. Once her swirly signature was on the paper, she gave it to him with a tiny smile. “It’s very kind of you to do all of this for me. I really appreciate it.”

“No need to thank me,” he folded the paper in two and put it back in his pocket along with the pen. “I’m glad I can help you.”

Her dark knight… Their eyes locked, and suddenly air seemed to vanish from the room. His eyes were sparkly, dark blue, filled with a pleasure that suddenly seemed too sexual for Rachel. Her heart skipped a beat, jumped into her chest and started racing. It took all her willpower to ignore the flood of desire that seemed to simmer in her blood.

“After… after you left,” she nervously stammered, “I took the time to look over the paper and the internet.” She slightly tilted her head aside, her dark eyes focused on him. “I thought the news of Finn cheating on me with Quinn, her pregnancy and my firing of my mother would be public knowledge by now, but there wasn’t a word about it. No one wondered what was made of me once you went back to the ball room?”

Jesse smiled. “I made sure no one spoke of it. Santana Lopez wondered, but I managed to shake her off the trail. You’ll have to give her an interview next week, however, it was a trade I made with her.” He pushed a rebellious lock of hair from his eyes. “You’re still not ready to deal with the aftermath of all those things going public, and I don’t trust the staff at the hotel not to accept bribe from the press. Once you’re safely settled at my guest house, we’ll release a press announcement.”

Once again he displayed how much he cared about her well-being. For her, that was even more attractive than his physical beauty and sexual appeal. His concern about her made it increasingly difficult to fight the desire he caused her.

Obviously unaware of the confusing emotions he evoked in her, he carried on, “I’ve managed to shut them up for now, but we can’t keep the story secret forever. Someone **will** talk. Maybe your mother, maybe Hudson, maybe Fabray. I just want to give you enough time to get back on your feet and find a safe place to live before things go hectic.”

It was extraordinary, how his mind worked. He thought of everything. **He** was extraordinary. “Thank you,” she breathed, gratefully. “Even if it makes people think that I left Finn to be with you, I appreciate your courtesy.”

Jesse looked at her thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow. “It’s the second time you mention people thinking we’re having a relationship,” he said carefully. “Will that bother you?”

Rachel bit her lower lip and pondered it for a few moments, then replied, “Now that I think of it, no.” She smirked slightly, and he felt his blood grow hot at it. “It’ll probably soften the blow of the scandal. Plus, it’ll be good for my pride and self-esteem to be linked to you. After all, you’re a more famous, more handsome, more powerful and richer man than Finn.”

Jesse laughed, amusement in his eyes. “You’re also a powerful woman, Rachel,” he added once he calmed down. “In a different way than me, but still powerful. You attract people, invite them in.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes in disbelief. “What? No, I don’t.”

“Yes, I do,” he insisted. “You make people want to be close to you. Even me.”

Rachel blinked, slightly stunned. She had always thought of Jesse as an intimidating, dangerous, powerful man; as a predator that always went after the latest prey that caught his eye, took as much as he wanted to and then walked away, going after the newest prey that would satisfy him. Nothing held him back, nothing kept his interest longer than he deemed necessary.

Learning that she had such an effect on him, she had to admit it was a little exciting. It made her feel empowered, sexy-

-and she discarded that thought before it created root. She couldn’t see Jesse in a sexual light, as a man. Even if she was factually separated, she was legally still a married woman, he had a girlfriend and was her boss. Besides, she highly doubted he was sexually attracted to her. All he probably felt for her was solidarity for her situation and concern over how her current situation would impact the ratings of his new show. “Well,” she said with a soft smile, “whatever it is that I have that is attractive to people and you, I’m at the moment extremely thankful for it. You’re giving me outs I wouldn’t have been able to find alone.”

“I’ve already told you, you don’t have to thank me. I only hope it leads us to a happier ending.” He offered her his arm with a smile. “Shall we go have lunch?”

She picked her purse up and curled her hand to the curve of his arm, deciding not to worry anymore about his motivations to help her. “And the fax to the moving company?” She asked.

“I’ll drop it at the front desk and ask the concierge to send it over before we make our way to the restaurant,” he replied, with a smile, opening the door for her to leave the room.

Rachel smiled back, happy that her split from her mother and her former husband had been taken care of in less than a day and that she hadn’t had to see or talk to any of them. She softly squeezed the arm of the man by her side, the man who made everything possible for her as he led her towards the private elevator, thinking how lucky she was to have him by her side. Her dark knight, looking out for her, showing her solutions she wouldn’t see by herself, making sure all the steps she took were chosen by her and her only.

All her body tingled with the physical closeness of his body. It wasn’t, however, a tingle of fear, or of alarm – it was, instead, an excited, pleased tingle. She was very aware of the softly defined muscles on his arm, the deeply masculine aura he exuded, which was very attractive to her feminine instincts.

For the first time, she wondered how it would feel, to have a man like him, to have **him** , always by her side.

She shook the idea off. That was completely unrealistic.

And it was a weakness she couldn’t afford to have, Rachel told herself firmly. She had to be strong by herself.

She couldn’t deny, however, that at the moment it felt incredibly nice to have Jesse St. James next to her, as her ally.


End file.
